Jerry Thompson

OTHER NEWS TO NOTE - DEATHS

January 30, 2000

Thompson, an award-winning local columnist for the Nashville Tennessean who successfully penetrated the Ku Klux Klan, died Friday in Nashville after a 12-year battle with cancer. He was 59. Thompson helped train a young Al Gore as a reporter. During his long illness, he continued to write his popular folksy column ``Thompson's Station.'' Thompson was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his work in infiltrating the Klan during 1979-80 in Birmingham, Ala., and writing an expose on their activities. Realizing the need for secrecy to protect Thompson's life, his absence from the newspaper at the time was explained to staffers as a leave of absence for treatment of alcoholism. Later, Thompson wrote a book on his experiences, My Life in the Klan. Thompson, who started his career as a copy clerk on the Tennessean, helped train reporters over the years including Gore, who worked on the paper before entering politics.

MARIE FONTAINE

Fontaine, co-founder of Discount Auto Parts, died Thursday in Lakeland of complications from pneumonia. She was 87. Fontaine founded the Lakeland-based auto parts chain in 1971 along with her husband, Herman. The chain supplies more than 600 stores in six states and employs more than 6,000 people. Fontaine's son, Peter Fontaine, said his mother played a key role in the company's success. ``She set the standard for our values and instilled in our company the importance of `family,''' Peter Fontaine said.